bridges



(Mo deL) M. J. BRIDGES.

COMBINED CLOTHES WASHER AND GHURN. No. 273,453. Patented'Mam-fi, 1883.

NITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

MARY J. BRIDGES, OF WIMBERLY MILL, TEXAS, ASSIGNOR TO HERSELF AND MARTHA E. GUNN, OF SAME PLACE.

COMBINED CLOTHES-WASHER AND CHURN.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 273,453, dated March 6, 1883.

' Application filed July 19,1882. (ModeL) To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, MARY JANE BRIDGES, of

'Wimberly Mill, in the county of Hays and State of Texas, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in a Combined Clothes- Washer and Churn, of which the following is a full, clear, andexact description.

Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings, forming part ofthis specification, in which similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in all the figures.

Figure 1 is an end elevation'of my improvement. Fig.2 is a sectional side elgvatiou ofthe same, taken through the line 00.90, Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a side elevation of a part of the same.

The object of this invention is to facilitate the operations of Washing clothes and churning, and also to avoid the necessity of having a separate mechanism for each use.

The invention consists iu the peculiar construction and arrangement of parts, as hereinafter fully described, and pointed out in the claims.

A represents the frame of the machine, to the lower part of which is attached the platform B.

To the front end posts of the frame A, near their upper ends, are attached bearings, in which revolve the journals of the drivingshaft 0.

To the shaft G, or to a drum, D, attached to the said shaft, is secured the end of acord, E, which passes over a pulley, F, and has a weight, Gr, attached to its other end, so that the shaft 0 can be driven by the gravity of the said weight G. The pulley F revolves loosely upon the straight middlepart of the shaft H, the end parts of which are bent-inward and downward, and are attached to the upper ends of the front end posts of the frame A.

.To one end of the driving-shaft G is attached a crank, I, for turning the said shaitO to Wind up the cord E, and which may also be used for operating the machine without usingthe weight. The machine may also be driven by steam-power, water'power, wind-power, ani-v mal-power, or any other convenient power.

To the driving-shaft G is attached a beveledgear wheel, J, into the teeth of which mesh the teeth of a beveled-gear wheel, K, attached to the upper end of the vertical shaft L. The

lower end of the shaft L revolves in a stepbearing attached to a central beam of the frame A. The upper part of the shaft L revolves in a bearing in the inner end of the bent lever M, which is pivoted to a cross-bar of the frame A, with its other end projecting at the side of the machine, so that it can be readily reached and operated to throw the gear-wheel K into and out of gear with the gear-wheel J. The outer arm of the lever M projects across the edge of a catch-plate, N, attachedto a post of the frame A, and which is provided with two notches to receive and hold the lever M when the gear-Wheel-K is in gear and when it is out of gear.

Upon the lower part of the vertical shaft L is placed a pinion-wheel, O, which is connected with the said shaft by a pin and groove, or other suitable means that will allow the said pinion-wheel to slide up and down upon the said shaftinits revolution. The pinion-wheel 0 meshes with the teeth of the gear-Wheel P,

- attached to a circular plate or platform, Q,

whieh revolves upon a pivot, R, attached to a circular block, S, and rests upon small rollers T, revolvingin recesses in the face of the said block S. The block S is attached to the upper end of a rack-bar, U, which passes through a guide-slot in a central beam of the frame A, and into its teeth mesh the teeth of a small gear-wheel, V, placed in the same slot, and attached to a crank-shaft, W, revolving in bearings attached to the frame A, and having a crank, X, attached to its end. With this construction, by turning the crank X the block S and its attachments can be raised and lowered to adjust it to any desired height.

To the crank-shaft W is attached a ratchetwheel, Y, with the teeth of which engages the spring-pawl Z, attached to the frame A, to hold the block S and its attachments securely in any desired position into which it may be adjusted. The spring-pawl Z is raised to allow the block S to be lowered by a bent lever, a,

pivoted at its angle to the frame A, and the end of the lower arm of which is bent inward to pass beneath the said spring-pawl Z, as shown in Fig. 1.

Thepinion-wheelO is made with flanged ends, between which the teeth of the gear-wheel P work, so that the said gear-Wheel P, as it moves up and down, will carry the said pinion-wheel with it, and will thus keep in mesh with the said pinion-wheel.

Upon the circular platform Q is placed a tub, I), to receive the clothes to be washed, and within which they are operated upon by the pounders 0. attached to the lower ends of the staffs (I. The pounder-stafi's (I pass through guide-holes in the end parts of a bar, 6, attached to thelower end of a bar,f. The upper end of the hanging barf is attached to a crossbar, 9, the ends of which pass through keepers 11, attached to the top side bars of the fratne A, and rest upon the said bars. Tlte cross-bar g is held down by spiral springs i, interposed between its ends and the said keepers h. The springs 0 allow the cross-bar g to rise should the clothes iii the tub b be too thick to allow the pounders c to descend to the end of their stroke. The upper ends of the pounder-stafls d are hinged to the lever j upon the opposite sides of and equally distant frotn its pivot. The lever is pivoted to anti between lugs is, attached to the upper side ofthe cross-bar 9.

To the lever j, at its pivot-point, is rigidly attached an arm, I, which projects at right angles with the said lever, and to its outer end is hinged the end of a pitman, m. The other end of the pittnan m is pivoted to a crank, 12, formed upon a shalt, 0, which revolves in bearings attached to the upper ends of the end posts ofthe frame A, or to supports attached to the said posts.

To the shaft 0 is attached the small gearwheel 1), the teeth of which mesh intothe teeth of thelarge gear-wheel q, placed upon the driving-shaft 0, so that the leverj will be vibrated to operate the pounders c, and at the same time the tub b, containing the clothes, will he slowly rotated from the saute driving-shaft, C, to cause the pounders c to strike the clothes each time in a new place. The tub I) is raised and lowered to adjust it to the thickness of clothes to be operated upon by operating the rack U and gear-wheel V by means of the crank-shaft W X, as hereinbefore described.

The gear-wheel q runs loose upon the shaft G, and is provided with a spring-pawl, t, which engages with the teeth of the ratchet-wheel u, attached to the said shaft 0, so that the said shaft, when turned forward, willcarry the gearwheel with it, but can be turned back without turning the said gear-wheel. This construction allows the shaft 0 to be turned back to wind up the cord E and raise the weight G without its being necessary to turn the gearwheel (1 and operate the mechanism connected with the said gear-wheel.

The lever j is extended toward the tail of the machine, as at J, and to its end is hinged the upper end of the dasher-stafi 'r of a churn, s, placed upon the platform B of the machine, so that the churning can be done by the same mechanism that does the washing.

The machine can also be used as a sausage meat chopper, as a rice-huller, and for various other uses.

Having thus fully described my invention, I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent- 1. In a combined clothes-washer and churn, the combination. with the frame A and the horizontal shaft 0, provided with the bevelwheel J, of the vertical shaft L, stepped in the lower part of the frame A, attd provided with the bevel-wheel K at its upper end, the bent lever M, pivoted to said frame and having a bearing for the shaft L in its upper end. and the catch N, substantially as herein shown and described, hereby the lever is made to serve the double purpose of a bearing for the shaft L and means for throwing the bevel wheel K into and out of gear with bevel-wheel J, as set forth.

2. In a combined clothes-washer and churn, the combination, with the horizontal shaft 0, provided with the bevel gear wheel J and means for rotating said shaft, of the adjustable tllbfillplJOItlllg gear-wheel P, and the vertical shaft L, provided with the bevel-wheel K at its upper end, adapted to tneet with the bevelwheel J and the sliding pinion-wheel 0 on its lower portion, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

3. In a combined washer and churn, the combination, with the drive-shaft (J, provided with the gear-wheel q, and the crank-shaft o n, provided with the pinion p, of the pounders c d, the dasher-shal't 1', the three-armed lever ljj, the arm j being longer than the arm j and having dasher-shat't hinged to its end, and the pitman m, substantially asand for the purpose set forth.

MARY J. BRIDGES.

Witnesses:

ISAAC H. JULIAN, I. V. JULIAN. 

